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CNN Live At Daybreak
Rudolph En Route to Court in Asheville
Aired June 02, 2003 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Suspected bomber Eric Robert Rudolph heads to court in Asheville, North Carolina this morning. But 90 miles away, federal agents will search the woods to learn about the five years Rudolph lived on the run.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports from Murphy, North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The small county jail in Murphy, North Carolina is no maximum security facility. But with one of the FBI's most wanted men inside, weapon toting police spent the day surrounding the building. Local authorities were told by the Feds to keep quiet about information, and that included the sheriff's deputy who helped in the arrest and was the first to identify the suspect as Eric Robert Rudolph.
QUESTION: What was his demeanor when you recognized him?
SEAN MATTHEWS, CHEROKEE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: I can't comment on that.
QUESTION: What did you say to him?
MATTHEWS: I'm not going to comment on that either.
QUESTION: Did you say something to him?
MATTHEWS: No comment.
TUCHMAN: Authorities are similarly tight-lipped about their search of the wooded and mountainous region near Murphy, where it's believed Rudolph had lived in hiding for the last half decade. Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms are looking for evidence they can use in Rudolph's prosecution and they could be seen all over town, which makes some residents in this region uncomfortable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It felt like a foreign country almost because, you know, seeing people with rifles around us is so unusual.
TUCHMAN: The FBI says it's sensitive to residents' discomfort.
CHRIS SWECKER, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: There is a lot of work to do over the next few days, but we are trying not to become an occupational force here. I mean we're trying to be very measured and very controlled about what we're doing. And as I said, there are a lot of agents and detectives that are heading this way now. There are a lot here. But we are not going to have people trampling through crime scenes and that sort of thing.
TUCHMAN (on camera): The hearing this morning is called a removal hearing because the judge will most likely ask for the removal of Rudolph to either Atlanta, Georgia or Birmingham, Alabama, those being the two states where the four bombs went off.
This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Murphy, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: But as Gary alluded to, the Justice Department will decide where it wants Eric Rudolph to be tried first. It all comes down to where prosecutors think their case is stronger, in Birmingham or here in Atlanta. But as they build that case, they'll look for evidence and hope for cooperation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY COULON, FORMER FBI DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: If they can find where he has been, that could go a long way to help improve their case. He may have a cache of explosives or components that would allow him to make explosive devices. I don't know if he'll cooperate. Generally people in the Christian identity movement have cooperated with us in the past. They've confessed and they've given us a lot of information.
In this case, though, like McVeigh, he faces the death penalty. So his cooperation is, would be some time questionable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And we'll learn more about the Rudolph investigation when FBI Special Agent Chris Swecker appears on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING. That happens about two hours from now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 2, 2003 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Suspected bomber Eric Robert Rudolph heads to court in Asheville, North Carolina this morning. But 90 miles away, federal agents will search the woods to learn about the five years Rudolph lived on the run.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports from Murphy, North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The small county jail in Murphy, North Carolina is no maximum security facility. But with one of the FBI's most wanted men inside, weapon toting police spent the day surrounding the building. Local authorities were told by the Feds to keep quiet about information, and that included the sheriff's deputy who helped in the arrest and was the first to identify the suspect as Eric Robert Rudolph.
QUESTION: What was his demeanor when you recognized him?
SEAN MATTHEWS, CHEROKEE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: I can't comment on that.
QUESTION: What did you say to him?
MATTHEWS: I'm not going to comment on that either.
QUESTION: Did you say something to him?
MATTHEWS: No comment.
TUCHMAN: Authorities are similarly tight-lipped about their search of the wooded and mountainous region near Murphy, where it's believed Rudolph had lived in hiding for the last half decade. Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms are looking for evidence they can use in Rudolph's prosecution and they could be seen all over town, which makes some residents in this region uncomfortable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It felt like a foreign country almost because, you know, seeing people with rifles around us is so unusual.
TUCHMAN: The FBI says it's sensitive to residents' discomfort.
CHRIS SWECKER, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: There is a lot of work to do over the next few days, but we are trying not to become an occupational force here. I mean we're trying to be very measured and very controlled about what we're doing. And as I said, there are a lot of agents and detectives that are heading this way now. There are a lot here. But we are not going to have people trampling through crime scenes and that sort of thing.
TUCHMAN (on camera): The hearing this morning is called a removal hearing because the judge will most likely ask for the removal of Rudolph to either Atlanta, Georgia or Birmingham, Alabama, those being the two states where the four bombs went off.
This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Murphy, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: But as Gary alluded to, the Justice Department will decide where it wants Eric Rudolph to be tried first. It all comes down to where prosecutors think their case is stronger, in Birmingham or here in Atlanta. But as they build that case, they'll look for evidence and hope for cooperation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY COULON, FORMER FBI DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: If they can find where he has been, that could go a long way to help improve their case. He may have a cache of explosives or components that would allow him to make explosive devices. I don't know if he'll cooperate. Generally people in the Christian identity movement have cooperated with us in the past. They've confessed and they've given us a lot of information.
In this case, though, like McVeigh, he faces the death penalty. So his cooperation is, would be some time questionable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And we'll learn more about the Rudolph investigation when FBI Special Agent Chris Swecker appears on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING. That happens about two hours from now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
